from Stratton House - The Astronomy Adventure

THE ASTRONOMY ADVENTURE

My seven year-old's favorite lesson was creating
artificial gravity. My favorite lesson was making a scale model of the distances
between the planets. Another fun lesson was modeling the planet sizes. Even
my three year-old still remembers what the four gas giants are. - Lynne Hunter, Kent WA

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ASTRONOMY

1) Tracking the
Moon - Chart the phases of the moon for a month.
2) Exploring
the Moon - Use a pair of binoculars to see and draw craters
on the moon.
3) Phases of
the Moon - Construct a 3D model that will show what causes the
moon's phases.
4) Welcome to
the Solar System - Create a map of the solar system using planet
stickers.
5) Modeling Planet
Sizes - Use balloons and clay balls to make scale models of
all the planet.
6)An Interplanetary Hike
- Create a giant scale model of the solar system.
(see this activity)
7) Artificial
Gravity - Use the power of centrifugal force to create artificial
gravity. 8) Gravity on
Other Planets - Use the artificial gravity machine to simulate
gravity on other planets.
9) Mercury and
Venus - Perform a greenhouse experiment to find out why Venus
is, on average, hotter than Mercury.
10) Invent Your
Own Constellation - Find images in a starry sky.
11) Is It a Star?
- Learn to recognize shooting stars, satellites, planets and comets.
12-15) The Night
Sky - Use the binoculars to explore the night sky. See wonders
such as star clusters, double stars, nebulas, constellations, red giants.
There are four lessons here, one for each season: Orion & Taurus, The
Dippers, The Summer Triangle, Sagittarius & Scorpio.
16) Curved Space
- Explore how the curvature of space could explain gravity using a simple
balloon and BB.